France is examining terrorist recruitment propaganda

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – France is looking at the sophisticated propaganda, indoctrination and other methods used to recruit terrorists, including social media and video games, as part of its wide-ranging campaign to eradicate “the devastating force of terrorism”, the country’s justice minister said Tuesday.

Christiane Taubira told an open meeting of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee that following last month’s attacks on the Charlie Hebdo weekly newspaper and a kosher supermarket that killed 20 people, including three gunmen, France is also asking what draws recruits to view terrible violence as “a noble cause”.

And it is examining the fascination with crime and death, and the disparities between rich and poor that lead some people to believe they have no future, she said.

“We need to breathe life back into the principle of equality,” Taubira said. “The promise of the (French) republic is that everyone has a chance. We need to keep that promise.”

She said France is reinforcing measures to fight against racism and xenophobia, to protect victims and witnesses, to help people who agree to become informers, and to prevent the dissemination of terrorist material on social networks.

French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira (R) visits the National September 11 Museum in New York on February 10 – AFP

The French government is also taking action to dismantle terror networks to prevent would-be foreign fighters from joining terrorist groups and to prevent terrorists from entering the country, Taubira said, and “we have been able to dismantle around about 15 networks”. She gave no details.

The government is doing research to detect signs of radicalisation and setting up de-indoctrination programmes, Taubira said.

France is also taking measures to protect the majority of prison inmates from succumbing to pressures from a minority of radicalised detainees, she said.

But Taubira said a national response will never be sufficient and international action is essential to combat the increase in terrorist attacks.